Of course, John.  Using your homeowner's insurance is a great example.  The homeowners policy that you buy is actually a little package policy, offering several different lines of coverage.  The Property portion of the policy covers physical damage to the structures and personal property (anything not screwed to the wall) at your specific residence premises.

 

Then there's a separate section of your homeowners policy that provides liability coverage.  This coverage is intended to cover you for things that happen at your house (a guest falls down the stairs, etc.), but is generally written on a comprehensive personal liability form, which will follow you around wherever you go, and cover any damage that your cause to anyone (subject to some exceptions, naturally).  Therefore, if your golf ball hits somebody on the fairway, if you inadvertently bump somebody on the sidewalk and knock them down, etc., the liability coverage on your homeowners policy can kick in to defend you in court and pay any damages for which you are responsible. (Traditionally, the coverage hasn't followed you EVERYWHERE, but has been limited to the U.S., its terretories and possessions, Puerto Rico, and Canada; however many companies have now begun to provide coverage worldwide.)

 

Likewise, a corporation or organization that purchases a general liability policy has the protection of this policy everywhere it operates.  Now the church in question is probably being asked to be added as an "Additional Insured" on the policy, and this is likely what we're interpreting as purchasing liability coverage for a specific location.  However, what that really means is that the company is being informed that it's providing contractual liability coverage for the landlord; no additional coverage is really being purchased, and this SHOULD not result in an additional premium.

It's great that you've found a good broker; everybody should.  Bear in mind that what you purchased was special event coverage, which is only good for the duration of your event (and limited to occurrences arising out of that event). Sounds like this was a one-time event, so that's exactly what you should have purchased.  However, this won't work for any sort of ongoing entity (particularly in this case, where the church is looking for some protection from the organizations activities.

 

Tom

That's interesting, Simon.  Not being aware of such a program, I've just visited the member benefits page for C.A.  While they don't have a blanket policy for their member choruses (which might not be a great idea in the U.S. anyway, for a number of reasons), they do have affiliations with several non-profit specialty brokers, who probably have some pre-designed packages for choirs.

 

In the interest of full disclosure, I have to admit that I've never heard of any of these brokers; however, their web sites indicate that they are using some good quality carriers (insurance companies).

 

Tom

The BC Choral Federation does a similar thing; member choirs can piggyback onto our insurance policy at a much lower price than they would pay independently.